The Ghost of You
by Truthful Blasphemy
Summary: Of all the things to find on the Harvard campus, he was not one of them. But for some reason, Dani wasn't going to argue with Fate. Not this time.


**Hey. I just kinda threw this together to get myself into the world of Hocus Pocus. Dani/Thackery is such a weirdly acceptable pairing. I should be disgusted, but it works so well because Disney did a horrible job of portraying their 'brother-sister' relationship and instead made a Dackery shipyard.**

**Anyway, this is my story, and I hope people review so I know whether or not this fandom likes me. **

**(Yes, the title is based on a song by _My Chemical Romance, _and you should look it up)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Hocus Pocus.**

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Dani sipped at the coffee thoughtfully. College had seemed like such a big, scary step, and her instincts had been right. She felt too far away from Salem, too far away from all the happy memories she had built with Max, Allison, her Mother and her Father. The warmth of the coffee house combined with the swarming of young adults to and from tables was stifling. Dani stood from her seat hastily. The cardboard coffee cup she had been holding in a death-grip was set down only long enough for her to hoist her heavy bag over her shoulder. With one hand holding the leather strap and the other holding her coffee cup, Dani hurried to exit the café.

She walked across campus, admiring the changing colors of fall. Winter would soon storm in, ripping the vibrant autumn colors away and replacing them all with dreary white, grey, and brown. Taking a seat beneath one of the larger trees and leaning back against it, Dani set down her coffee and pulled her book for English 101 out of her bag. The copy was worn, the pages dog-eared and the cover slightly tattered around the edges. _Wuthering Heights _was one of Dani's old favorites. She probably didn't need to read it again to pass the essays and tests her teacher handed out, but she loved it. She loved that Heathcliff and Cathy had such tragedy. That love was so close, held before them, but it was snatched away.

Dani was cynical.

Her eventful childhood had led to a boring phase of teenagerdom, where she had experimented with her clothes and hair until she found her style. Then she never deviated. Dani was, in her parent's opinion, a very easily-pleased child. They were content with that. And so here she sat, beneath a tree at Harvard University, sipping coffee and reading a book like every other student. It was almost like a scene from a movie.

"Isn't it cold outside?" a male voice asked, pulling Dani back from the moors and into reality.

"I've got a hat and coat," she replied, trying to remain disinterested. She continued looking at her book, though she was no longer reading.

"Yes, but don't your hands get cold holding the book in the cold air without gloves?" he asked. Dani rolled her eyes, _could anyone take a hint these days?_

"I have coffee," she snipped.

"I'm not going to leave, no matter how angry you sound," the boy sighed. "Something drew me over here to you and I won't leave until I at least know your name."

"Dani," she huffed. She wasn't going to give in and look up.

"Zachary," he retorted. This made her instinctively twinge, but she resisted her urge. _That name. So close, so common, and yet not the name I wish it was. _

"Nice to have talked to you," Dani said brusquely, clearly dismissing him.

"Listen, Dani, I don't want to make you mad. I was walking across the quad and looking for a friend of mine and I saw you. Something inside just pulled me right over, like I had no real will of my own. Call it magic or fate or whatever, but will you please just look up at me so I can see your face?" Zachary ranted, ending with a huff.

"Why n-" Dani's word was cut off in the middle. When she looked up, she saw the face of Thackery Binx looking right back at her, if only slightly different. More mature, masculine, and defined. All of him was that way, and Dani considered herself thoroughly in shock. _All this time and you send me your doppelganger? How cruel, Thackery. Or is it really you in there, hiding in the memories? _

"What's wrong?" Zachary asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You just…don't take this the wrong way, but you look like my childhood crush," Dani laughed breathlessly. "Only…all grown up."

"Yes, children tend to do that. Nasty business, growing up," Zachary made a disgusted face and then smiled. "But I see that my perilous journey across the campus was not all in vain. You are very pretty, Dani, even behind your wicked temper. Perhaps tomorrow you would let me take you to coffee?"

"To make up for the long walk across the quad that you wasted on my behalf, I, the reigning Queen, shall allow you to take me to coffee," Dani stated imperiously, standing from her spot on the ground. She tucked _Wuthering Heights _back into her bag and dusted herself off. Students had started wandering to and fro between the buildings, which meant that a round of classes was over and that another was about to begin. "What class do you have next?"

"Sociology," Zachary stated, motioning the direction with a nod of his head. "Over there."

"I have English 101 in the same building, I think," Dani offered, shrugging noncommittally. "Unless you want to walk alone. Oh! And you should probably give me your number, if you have one."

"No, I would like to walk with you, if you're willing to accompany me," Zachary smiled, awkwardly stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets after scribbling his number on the back of Dani's hand. Dani held onto her semi-warm cup with both hands, taking sips of bitter brown heaven between sentences as she listened to Zachary ("Call me Zach, it's just easier.") talk about his major ("Social Sciences!") and where he grew up.

"You know, Dani," Zach said as they were about to part ways in front of her English 101 door, "I get the strange feeling that we've met before. But I don't quite remember how or where or when."

"You know," Dani replied, stifling her knowing smile, "I get that same feeling."


End file.
